...so Willpower is bad now?

[Curveball]

I can't find any posts specifically stating this, I just keep running into references about it... only the things those posts refer to seem to be the same things everyone already knew about the set back when it was considered "good" - namely, that Sappers will screw you and that you don't have any instant massive heals to mitigate alpha strikes, so if damage overcomes your regen even for a moment you need to make sure you have a tray of greens on hand.

 

Is there something new? My google fu isn't working like it should.

 

I've been playing around with /regen, and it's fun enough, but I do get tired of being terrorized by Circle ghosts and the like. Every powerset has something...

[lemming]

I like Regen myself a bit more than WP after it's latest buff, but WP is a good set.    As you said, it's not as good vs sappers, but you don't get terrorized.   Each set has strengths and weaknesses.

[PeregrineFalcon]

Willpower is my goto armor set for Scrappers unless the theme specifically requires something else. Personally, I've never had problems with the alpha with Willpower on Scrappers or Tankers.

 

That being said, every armor set has its weakness, and Willpower isn't trash just because it also has a weakness. Kill the Sapper first and carry a blue inspiration and you'll be fine.

[Uun]

One of the reasons I took SoW on my WP brute is that it can be cast while mezzed if you've had your toggles dropped. (I have bigger problems with Mu Adepts and Guardians than I do with Sappers, since they're not limited to 1 per spawn. ) To my knowledge, HC has made no changes to Willpower. It plays like it always has, meaning it's very strong until it's not. I think the shifting sentiment may be due to the addition of new armor sets like Psi Armor and recent buffs to other sets.

[Krimson]

I stopped playing my Stalker because WP was so effective, I started tanking with it, which defeated the purpose of playing a stalker.

[Maelwys]

IIRC Willpower has one of the highest performance baselines, and one of the lowest performance ceilings.

 

It's very hands-off and low maintenance and has good sustainability in prolonged encounters where the incoming damage is always under its passive immortality line... but it's not particularly good in harder encounters (unless you seriously supplement its toolkit via other abilities and set bonuses and Incarnates, and even then it suffers from low DDR)

[aethereal]

Opinions in this game are often people's long-term lag from earlier versions of the game.  People got really excited about Willpower back when:

 

1.  Endurance tools were less common so Willpower's having one distinguished it more.

2.  Most people had less access to most IOs and wanted builds that performed well without super extensive slotting with the best sets in the game.

3.  People didn't care a lot about offensive boosts.

 

If that's the environment you're in, Willpower is great.

 

But nowadays, the cost of IOs has come way down and the availability of them is way up, endurance is easier to manage, and the premium on offensive boosts has come up.  In this environment, WP is kinda meh.  It's fine.  Almost all sets are fine.  But it's not going to put together the most impressive numbers on any axis, so play it if you like it, not because you're looking for tip-top performance.

[MTeague]

Much like Regen, having a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, means you still benefit quite a lot from team buffs.

I know, I know, people are used to looking at Empathy or Force Fields as "sub-optimal", but sometimes it can be nice to pair up with a buff-heavy set.

[SomeGuy]

*reads title*

 

Willpower is bad now? What?

 

I personally prefer other sets, but WP definitely isn't bad.

Edited yesterday at 04:15 AM by SomeGuy

[Without_Pause]

I found it to be really good until debuffs started to stack up. On teams it can be great, but if you are soloing and trying to push the envelope, that's where problems can come in.